INTERVIEW: A Digital Pint with… Amy Yeo, on Female Friendship, Seances, and Victorians Like You’ve Never Seen Them Before

Amy Yeo is the writer of upcoming EdFringe comedy drama Well Behaved Women. The piece follows three friends are trying their best to navigate the chaos of their 20s – in 1883. The show aims to explore female friendship, a ‘farcical seance’, and Victorians like you’ve never seen them before. We caught up with Amy for a pixelated pint to find our more about what inspired the show.

You can catch Well Behaved Women from 30th July to 25th August (not the 13th) at Doonstairs at Gilded Balloon Patter House from 14:20 (70mins). Tickets are available through the EdFringe Online Box Office.

Jake: Hi Amy! Your upcoming EdFringe show Well Behaved Women explores the power and joy of female friendships – tell us about the characters and the journey they go on, as well as what inspired the show.

Amy: Hi Jake! Well Behaved Women follows three friends, Marianne, Emma and Hattie. They are three women who find themselves at the (I hope!) universal crossroads you get to in your twenties, when you are forced to confront whether you are happy with the adult life you have built for yourself – the adult life often built on childhood dreams or parent expectation – and the terrifying reality of maybe choosing another path.

These three friends are at the stage in life where you go from feeling like you know everything to feeling like you know nothing and the play explores how scary it can be to start from scratch, and the importance of having the right people there next to you while you do.

Of course they’re only forced to confront this crossroad because of the absurd plan they hatch, which includes (but is not limited to) tricking an aristocrat, faking a seance and far too many disguises.

It is, you may be surprised to hear, somewhat autobiographical… I was inspired to write this based on the experience of me and my friends. I can’t say I’d be lost without them, because I am very much still lost, but my life wouldn’t be what it is without having them equally as lost alongside me!

However, since I am not a 19th century woman, it is not entirely autobiographical.

This historical nature of it is borne out of my love for period dramas and my hatred for the neon signs in nightclubs ‘Well Behaved Women seldom make history’! It is a phrase that was originally coined to make the important point that “ordinary” women are often erased from history, dismissed as unimportant; it is only the radical women that make it through the cracks. It was a critique of dominant historical narratives.

However, I think it has subsequently been co-opted, rather than criticising history’s erasure of ordinary women, it has become a rallying cry, motivating us to also be radical so that we too will make history and therefore matter… Now, while I’m all for trailblazing women, that is a lot of pressure, especially when sometimes you’re just trying to make it through the day – making history can get quite far down the to do list. It is also, perhaps more importantly, pretty much the opposite of the original point which is “we already matter and it’s sucky history doesn’t reflect that!”

So, as a life-longer rule follower and therefore someone who will certainly not be making history any time soon, I wanted to write about the women like me – who weren’t making history. I wanted to celebrate the extraordinary ordinary women history has forgotten. And I wanted to do it through the lens of friendship and comedy and remind the world that things happened to women in the past outside of love and / or marriage!

Jake: Tell us about what the audience can expect coming into the show, and what they might not expect about the show.

Amy: The audience can expect chaotic women, silly schemes and fabulous frocks. Terrible plans hatched with the best intentions spiral out of control.

The audience might not expect our representation of the era. The Victorian era is often misrepresented as stale, severe and conservative. And while it’s true this culture did exist, just like our society today, you cannot paint an entire time period with a broad brush. Doing so has created an inaccurate picture of the past, a picture that removes entire peoples, communities and experiences.

Our version of the Victorians chooses to shine a light on the progressive and diverse place Victorian Britain was, a nation on the brink of modernity. It reinserts back into history happy queer relationships, thriving female friendships and established people of colour in the middle and upper classes. It is a more inclusive and rarely seen perspective of the origin story for our country.

Jake: What are you hoping the audience might take away from the experience, if anything?

Amy: First and foremost I hope the audience take away that they’ve had a grand old time! The show is packed full of hijinks, shenanigans and silliness, it’s a fast paced whirlwind that will keep the audience entertained from beginning to end.

But secondly, I hope that the audiences see themselves in the show – whether it is seeing yourself represented in the past for the first time, relating to the terror our main trio feel, or perhaps you’re just equally as incompetent! Whatever it is, I hope audiences feel seen and are reminded that they are important! The heart of this show is the power of friendship and community, and this extends to our audience!

Jake: With Edinburgh Fringe 2025 just around the corner, what are you most excited for?

Amy: Pints.

Nah.. Writing is a very isolating thing to do, but the thing I love most about writing scripts is that they are by definition ‘unfinished’ – there is only so much I can do.

My brilliant director Hannah will put her unmistakable stamp on it, the actors will make their characters their own, and our amazing set and tech team will physically bring this production together.

I can’t wait to see the end product, and how all that amazing talent will come together on the 30th of July.

And the pints.

Jake: Given the themes of Binge Fringe, if your show was a beverage of any kind (alcoholic, non-alcoholic – be as creative as you like!), what would it be and why?

Amy: In the play a particularly obnoxious character offers a cocktail named after himself. It’s called ‘The Hunt’ and it’s just gin. Proceed with caution.

A reminder, you can catch Well Behaved Women from 30th July to 25th August (not the 13th) at Doonstairs at Gilded Balloon Patter House from 14:20 (70mins). Tickets are available through the EdFringe Online Box Office.